Breakdown of Äventyraren har kartan till hands när han sätter sig till bords.
han
he
ha
to have
sätta sig
to sit down
när
when
kartan
the map
äventyraren
the adventurer
till hands
at hand
till bords
to the table / at the table
Questions & Answers about Äventyraren har kartan till hands när han sätter sig till bords.
Why is it bords instead of bordet after till here?
This is a fossilized expression. In older Swedish, the preposition till required the following noun to take the genitive case (which adds an -s). Today, we just treat till bords as a fixed phrase meaning 'at the table' (specifically when sitting down to eat), rather than saying vid bordet.
Is till hands another one of those fixed genitive expressions?
Exactly! Just like till bords, till hands preserves an old genitive -s ending. It translates to 'at hand' or 'available'. You cannot change the form of the noun hand here because it is permanently frozen inside this set phrase.
Why do we use the reflexive sätter sig here instead of just sitter?
The verb sitter describes the stationary state of already being seated, while sätter sig describes the active motion of sitting down. Because the adventurer is in the process of taking a seat, we must use the reflexive motion verb sätter sig.
Could I say Äventyraren har en karta till hands instead of using the definite form kartan?
Yes, and the set phrase till hands works exactly the same way. The only difference is meaning: kartan means he has 'the' specific map at hand, while en karta would mean he has 'a' map available.
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